Southern Ocean evidence for recurring West Antarctic Ice Sheet destabilization during Marine Isotope Stage 11

L. Jebasinski (), D. A. Frick, A. K. I. U. Kapuge, C. Basak, M. Saavedra-Pellitero, G. Winckler, F. Lamy and J. Gottschalk
Additional contact information
L. Jebasinski: Kiel University
D. A. Frick: Kiel University
A. K. I. U. Kapuge: University of Delaware
C. Basak: University of Delaware
M. Saavedra-Pellitero: University of Portsmouth
G. Winckler: Columbia University
F. Lamy: Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research
J. Gottschalk: Kiel University

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract Millennial-scale deoxygenation of Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) in the Atlantic Southern Ocean during past interglacials was linked to West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) melt-driven suppression of dense water formation along the Antarctic margin. However, the circum-Antarctic extent of these ‘AABW stagnation events’ and drivers of WAIS retreat remain unclear. Here, we identify recurring bottom water O2 minima in the central Pacific Southern Ocean during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 11 (424–374 ka ago) that are synchronous with their Atlantic Southern Ocean counterparts. As they (partially) align with Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) warming above present-day levels and/or a reorganization of deep-ocean circulation, we postulate recurring and synchronized Pacific-Atlantic AABW perturbation events during MIS11 through WAIS retreat and enhanced exposure to ocean heat (i.e., CDW) from below. This indicates a significant contribution of WAIS meltwater to sea-level high-stands during MIS11 and, by analogy, to sea-level rise due to ocean warming in the future.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-65002-9 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-65002-9

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-65002-9

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().